Wednesday, June 29, 2016

This week was probably one the
busiest, most stressful of my mission, but I love it like that. I love
that we have lots of work to do here. I´m so grateful for God´s help
with this area.

SO! This week started off with a
division with the Sister AP´s in the capital. It was exhausting, mostly
because of the travel time to get there and sleeping on the floor, but
it was really cool to see another area and be with our friends who are
serving there. Sister Rechetinicou and I had one the worst lessons in
the history of all lessons (her investigator invited a pastor from
another church...I respect other religions, but he was not even willing
to hear our testimonies, he just laughed at us), but it was a great
learning experience and Sister Rechetinicou and I got a lot closer :) It
was also super great to see Sister Crapo again. I love that girl. I
also had the opportunity to have an interview with President about our
area on Wednesday, which helped me to understand a lot more about our investigators and ward leaders. I´m so grateful for President Silcox.

We got back from the division and the craziness began to prepare Sivaldo for his baptism this Saturday.
After various interviews and many lessons, he was ready. I have gained a
testimony that we don not have to be perfect before we can be baptized.
Baptism is the door to the rest of the journey. As long as we are
humble and willing to change our will to conform with the Lord´s, He
accepts our offering and turns us into new creatures. I´m so grateful
for this process, and that I can participate in this process every Sunday
when I partake of the sacrament. Despite some setbacks, the baptism was
a huge success and Sivaldo was the happiest I have ever seen him. I
know that God loves all of His children equally and that He wants ALL of
them to have the chance to return to live with Him again.

Ilma and Vanessa came to church yesterday and loved it. They will be baptized in two weeks from yesterday. I love these amazing women. They are so ready.

This
week, our big goal is to help all of the recent converts find a name of
a deceased ancestor and take that name to the Temple. There, they will
be able to perform ordinances in the place of their deceased family
members who never had the opportunity to hear the Gospel or be baptized
or receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I know that there are lots of
people who have already passed away who are just waiting for someone to
do their work for them. God gives a chance to ALL of His children. What
an opportunity we have to be a part of this amazing work!!

I
am absolutely loving my mission. To anyone who is debating whether or
not to serve, just do it. Pray about it first, of course, but I
guarantee you will never regret it. It has already blessed my life in
ways that I never could´ve imagined before.

This
week was good! The pouring rain here in Poá makes it a little hard to work, but
we´re still working and seeing lots of miracles.

This week, we had a cool experience with Ilma
(Genilson´s mom), who recently went through open heart surgery. We taught her
The Gospel of Jesus Christ, and after we taught her in detail about Christ´s
baptism, she was amazed. She explained, "Nossa, my baptism when I was a
baby wasn´t valid, because children don´t sin. I didn´t need to be baptized as
a baby! Now I understand why God saved me during my surgery...He wanted me to
have a chance to be baptized in the correct way so that I can be saved. I want
to be baptized in your church, in the way that Jesus Christ was baptized."
It was such a beautiful experience to watch someone just get it :) I´m so
excited for the baptism of this precious woman :)

We had a council for all the leaders of the mission
on Friday, which is always lots of fun. I love being able to learn at the feet
of President Silcox. He´s an amazing example to all of us.

In other news, we´re having stake conference here in
Itaquaquecetuba this weekend. But first, we´ll be having a mission conference!
That should be exciting! This is the first time since I got here that all the
missionaries in the whole mission will be in the same place at the same time!
Should be a great experience.

We´re still working with Sivaldo and Genilson and his wife,
as well as a bunch of other great people. I´m loving Poá.

Also, I made chocolate chip cookies this week!! Mmmmm! Also also, Sister Martinez cut my hair today! She did a
really good job! I´m lucky to live with such awesome sisters.

So last night, we received transfer
calls! We we surprised to hear that there would be no changes here in
Poa´. The four of us will be staying here! I´m super happy to not be
leaving my beloved city :) This transfer is gonna be tough, but also
really good. I know I´ll learn a lot!

You will
all be happy to hear that last night, we walked all the way to
Genilson´s house (where we had the miracle with the car not starting)
and he was home!! His mom returned from the hospital and we had a
marvelous lesson with them! The Spirit was so strong and I know that God
has great plans for this man and his family! I´m so blessed to be able
to teach them :)

In other news, during the
third hour of church yesterday, we gave a training for the whole ward on
how the members can become more involved in the missionary work
happening here in Poá. It went super well and lots of members came up
afterward to offer help and give referrals! I love this ward!

We
had the opportunity to do a division this week with the Sisters of
Jundiapeba, so that was a cool experience. I love being able to see the
way that other sister plan and teach. I´m learning a ton!

Also,
Sivaldo came to church for the third time in a row this Sunday! He is
marked to be baptized the 18th of June! I´m so happy for him. He´s a
great man who deserves the blessings of the Gospel in his life :)

Anyways, I love you all and I´m so grateful for all the prayers and support! You guys are the best!

All my love,

Sister Doyle

P.S.
- This week, I discovered my happy place. I was sitting cuddled up in
my bed, listening to a Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert, eating
cheese and crackers and reading "Jesus the Christ," by James Talmage.
Doesn´t get much better than that.

Yep, that´s right. I´m feeling ready for Christmas music and decorating
the tree. It´s gotten so cold here!!! Okay, so it´s not THAT cold, but
for someone who´s only been feeling 85-90 degrees for almost a
year...it´s pretty cold.

I received a new companion
this week, Sister Nunes!! It´s been really cool to be back with her
again! It´s not very often that you get the chance to be with the same
companion twice.

She´s a sweetheart. She´s been super sick though, so
that´s been kinda tough. And I think I´m coming down with whatever she´s
got as well, so that should be an adventure :)

Cassio
passed the sacrament this Sunday, which was the sweetest thing ever. He
absolutely loves the church and his new responsibilities, and even
recieved the calling of "Bishop´s Assistant," so he sits up on the stand
and runs (literally he runs....he´s so exicted <3) to get anything
the bishop needs. I am so proud of him.

We´ve
been teaching Talyta, and although she doesn´t feel the need to be
baptized yet, she has been enjoying the lessons and feeling the Spirit. I
know that God will touch her heart soon. We´re also teaching a man
named Sivaldo, who came to church for the second time this Sunday. He´s
an older man who lives alone. He has loved the warm welcome from the
members here in Poá. He told me "I´m going to come here every Sunday
that I don´t have anything to do...and I never have anything to do on
Sundays!" He´s the best :)

This week, we
contacted a referral in the neighborhood I had never visited before.
It´s a very poor neighborhood with a lot of problems. The referral
herself didn´t want anything, but as we were walking away from her
house, I felt prompted to talk to an older woman, Nilza, standing the
doorway of a humble house. She welcomed us in and explained that her
house had flooded last night and introduced us to her husband, who is
confined to a wheelchair because of a recent stroke. Although they
didn´t let us help with the flood, we shared a scripture and Nilza
thanked us again and again for lifting her spirits and said we should
come back to talk to them again. I know that God sends us to people just
when they need us, and that He is aware of all of His children in their
times of need. He knows exactly what we need and when we need it. And I
needed Nilza just as much as she needed us.

I hope you are all doing well and feeling the Hand of God working in your lives. He is so good. And He loves you.

I´m sorry, this one is gonna be short! But everything´s going well here in Poá!

We
gave a training on Friday at a Zone Conference with two zones. It was
stressful to prepare everything for it, but it was a big success!! I
think everyone had a good time and learned a lot too! I definitely
learned a ton as well.

We´ve had some sad
moments this week with investigators cutting us. It´s really hard for me
to see the people I love reject the thing that I know will bring them
happiness. But I know that God is a God of second chances, and that He
wants all of His children to return to live with Him someday. That gives
me hope for all of the people I love here.

In
other news, tomorrow, Sister Nunes will be arriving to be my new
companion for the next two weeks! It will be fun to live with 4 sisters
and it´s exciting to know that Poá is ready to be divided into two
areas!

I love you all and I hope you are doing
well and remembering how much you are loved by the Creator of the
Universe. You are special. To me and to Him.